www.thehansindia.com The Sunshine Festival Known by diﬀerent names in most parts of the country, the Sankranthi symbolises peace and prosperity and renewed enthusiasm spurred by new beginnings. It is truly a time to bask in the glory of the sun and oﬀer salutations for its nurturing qualities of health, wealth and victory SUNDAY 13 JANUARY 2019 KURNOOL | PAGES 20 | `5.00 H Simultaneously published from Hyderabad | Warangal | Tirupati | Amaravati | Visakhapatnam | Khammam | Kurnool | Delhi H PULL OUT NIA, NAIDU SHOOTS LETTER TO PM BLANKETED IN FOG OUR BUREAU WINDOWS Huge traﬃc jam at Pantangi tollgate in Choutuppal mandal of Nalgonda district on Saturday. The tollgate area was covered with fog in the morning hours. Photo: Srinivas Mucharla every institution, including the NIA. In his 5-page letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Naidu said that the NIA was meant to investigate cases which have complex inter-state and international linkage and possible connections with other activities like smuggling of drugs, arms and pushing in and circulation of fake Indian currency, inﬁltration from across the borders and so on. Continued on Page 11 Amaravati: Expressing concern over the manner in which the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had issued orders directing the National Investigating Agency to probe the knife attack on YSRCP leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy at the Visakhapatnam airport, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday charged the Centre of bringing down the sanctity and autonomy of FOUNDATION LAID FOR ICONIC BRIDGE Be ready for land pooling, will develop Krishna too: CM Former batsman VVS Laxman being felicitated during his visit at Nava Koba Primary School to support the smart school movement, in Gandhinagar, Saturday Four killed in gas explosion at Paris bakery Paris: At least four people, including two firefighters, died and dozens were injured after a gas leak led to an explosion at a bakery in central Paris on Saturday, emergency services said. The blast took place at 9.10 am (local time) at the bakery on Rue de Trevise in the 9th arrondissement of the French capital as firefighters were responding to reports of the leak. OUR BUREAU BSP supremo Mayawati being greeted with a bouquet from Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav during a joint press conference in Lucknow on Saturday SP-BSP announces tie-up for LS polls New Delhi: Once-arch rivals Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday announced an alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections at a press conference in Lucknow. Both parties will be sharing 38 seats each out of the state’s 80 parliamentary constituencies. “We (BSP-SP) have decided to contest upcoming Lok Sabha elections together, this will lead to a new political revolution in the country,” Mayawati said. The parties, however, said they would not ﬁeld candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Continued on Page 11 • To contest 38 seats each in Uttar Pradesh • Alliance leaves out Cong This...will rob 'guruchela' -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah -- of their sleep. I have full conﬁdence that just as our alliance defeated the BJP in the Lok Sabha bypolls, we will crush the saﬀron party in the general election – Mayawati Vijayawada: The state government will now focus on developing parallel cities on the south and north of Krishna river if farmers in Krishna district come forward to give land under the land pooling scheme. Addressing a meeting at Pavitra Sangamam in Ibrahimpatnam on Saturday, the Chief Minister said ‘Some farmers of Krishna district told me that the government was developing Guntur district only. If the farmers here are ready for land pooling, the government would develop the district on par with Amaravati. The Chief Minister was speaking after performing ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of Kuchipudi Iconic bridge at a cost of Rs 1387 crore connecting Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district with capital Amaravati in Guntur district. Naidu said the iconic bridge across the river Krishna would be known as Kuchipudi Iconic Bridge, the birth place of world famous Kuchipudi dance form. The bridge to be constructed at a cost of Rs 387 crore will be developed as a major tourist attraction. The Chief Minister also laid TULSI GABBARD TO RUN FOR PREZ First Hindu in US Congress, she will take on Trump Washington: Tulsi Gabbard, the ﬁrst Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, has said that she is running for the White House in 2020. Gabbard, 37, is the second woman after Senator Elizabeth Warren to enter the presidential race from the Democratic party. More than 12 Democratic leaders including Indian-origin Senator from California Kamala Harris are expected to announce their White House run to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020. She told CNN on Friday: "I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week". Continued on Page 11 Gannavaram to Dubai ﬂights by March end VL Syam Sunder Guntur: Buoyed by the tremendous demand received during an online opinion poll conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation, the state government has decided to take measures to inaugurate ﬂights from Gannavaram to Dubai twice a week by March end. According to sources in the APADC, over 20,000 responded favourably to the introduction of direct ﬂights to Dubai. The demand for direct ﬂights to Dubai was more compared to Singapore. While 20,000 opted for Dubai ﬂights, only 15,000 voted for Singapore ﬂights. The state government will now call for tenders to operate ﬂights to Dubai. After ﬁnalising the tenders, the ﬂight operators will get necessary permissions and time slot from the Central government to operate ﬂights from Gannavaram to Dubai. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is of the opinion that if direct ﬂights are operated from Gannavaram international airport, more investors will come to the sunrise state, which is useful to generate em- ployment opportunities to youth. Tourism will also get a boost. At present Dubaibound tourists are going to Hyderabad to take Dubai ﬂights. Speaking to The Hans India, Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Managing Director and CEO Virender Singh said, “the government is doing its best to operate direct ﬂights to Dubai before March end. If ﬂights are introduced to Dubai, the government is expected to get more investments in the state. When we have good infrastructure, investors will come to the state.” Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu speaking to oﬃcials after laying foundation stone for Kuchipudi Iconic Bridge at Pavitra Sangamam at Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district on Saturday foundation for water treatment plant at Venkatayapalem village. He said with the proposed bridge the western part of Krishna district will also witness rapid development as the distance between the region and Amaravati would be reduced. He said the bridge would be constructed within 15-18 months. The Chief Minister said the water treatment plant to be set up at a cost of Rs 747 crore will be completed within 12 months. He said the state government has been implementing many more welfare programmes than that in Telangana. Apart from increasing the pensions, he said, a temple would also be constructed in the capital region with the cooperation of the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams. Similarly, a mosque and church will also be constructed. Telangana Jagruthi to hold global youth meet in Hyd Hyderabad: Over 600 delegates from across 110 nations will be deliberating on United Nations – Sustainable Development Goals during the 2-day International Youth Leadership Conference (TJIYLC 2019) being organised by the Telangana Jagruthi. The conference being held from January 19 to 20 will be held at Novotel hotel in Madhapur, said founder president of Jagruthi and TRS MP K Kavitha. The cross-cutting theme for TJIYLC 2019 is “Mahatma Gandhi’s Path to Sustainability & Innovation”. Kavitha met Governor ESL Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan on Saturday to invite him for the conference. Continued on Page 11 EAMCET from April 20 7 entrance tests to be conducted online • AP-ECET will be conducted by JNTU Anantapur on April 19 from 10 am to 1 pm • AP-EAMCET (Engineering) will be organised by JNTU Kakinada from April 20 to 22 from 10 am to 1 pm • The engg entrance test will be held for Agri on April 24 from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm • AP-ICET will be conducted by SV University Tirupati on April 26 from 10 am to 1 pm and 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm • AP-PGCET will be conducted by Andhra varsity on May 1 to May 4 from 10 am to 1 pm and 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm • AP-Ed CET will be conducted by SV University on May 6 from 10 am to 1 pm • Sri Krishnadevaraya University will conduct AP-LAWCET at Anantapuram on May 6 from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm • Nagarjuna University will organise AP-PECET on May 8 to May 15 from 9 am to 4 pm OUR BUREAU Vijayawada: Minister for Human Resources Development (HRD) Ganta Srinivasa Rao on Saturday released the schedule for common entrance of tests of seven courses for the academic year 2019. All tests would be conducted online. Continued on Page 11

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